soli since the old Ones are Legally Depriv'd I must here observe that among all the Fathers there is no one speaks more for the Concurrence and Consent of the Laity in Matters relating to the ordering and governing of the Church than our Author St. Cyprian He declares in many places that he would not do any thing in this or that Matter relating to the Church till he had consulted both his Clergy and Laity as particularly in the Case of the Lapsi And he thinks it not onely convenient but necessary for a Bishop to do so For He together with his Synod call Therapius a Bishop to account and severely reprimand him for presuming to admit into the Church a Presbyter that had laps'd without the Consent of the Laity From this Example it is further observable that tho St. Cyprian speaks so much for the Equality of Bishops and that they are not responsable to one another for what they do as Bishops as in the Case of the Lapsi yet neither his own nor the general practice of his Age did truly agree with what he says By what Authority did St. Cyprian and his Synod pretend to call Therapius to account a Bishop as well as themselves How could they pretend to have Power to turn that Presbyter again out of the Church as they plainly intimate they had They deriv'd you will say this Authority from the Consent of the Church So Patriarchs Metropolitans arch-Arch-Bishops are set over Bishops by the Consent of the Church tho' by Christ's Institution all Bishops are equal Query Whether the Consent of the Church of England were there nothing else to be alleg'd be not enough to justify a Lay-Deprivation If a Patriarch or Metropolitan can Deprive a Bishop by the Authority of the Church why may not a Lay-Iudge do the like I shall close this Discourse concerning the Authority of that Father with that Question or Expostulation which I find in St. Augustine his 48 Ep. to Vinâ—entius the Rogatist a Sect of the Schismatical Donatists who had laid a great deal of Stress on the Authority of that Father for the Doctrin of Re-Baptism If you are delighted says he and so say I to our Adversaries with the Authority of the holy Bishop and glorious Martyr Cyprianus which we do not hold to be equal to the Authority of Scripture why do you not imitate him in this that he held Communion with the Catholick Church spread over all the world and defended the Vnity of it by his Writings In the same Epistle having quoted that place of St. Cyprian where he praises those African Bishops that refus'd to re-admit Adulterers into the Church yet did not break the Peace of the Church and separate from those that were of a different Opinion he adds what likewise we may well say to our Quoters of St. Cyprian What say you to this Brother Vincentius You see that this Man this peaceful Bishop and most valiant Martyr was not more concern'd for any thing than least the bond of Vnity should be broken As the Authority of the Civil Power of which we have hitherto spoken is agreeable to Principles and Reason so likewise is it to the Practice and Sentiments of the antient Church To make this appear and to put an End if it be possible to this Controversy I shall present you when occasion is given with A History of that Authority viz. of the Civil Power over Ecclesiastical Persons as well in Depriving as in otherwise punishing throughout all ages more especially that of the first Christian Emperour I shall treat concerning that Matter with all the Fairness and Impartiality that becomes a faithful Historian and a real Lover of Truth concealing nothing that may seem to make for the Cause of our Adversaries Yet this I shall demonstrat that tho in the time of Constantius some persecuted Bishops were pleas'd to deny that the Emperour had any Autority at all over Bishops yet the Emperour Constantine himself so great a Lover and Honorer of Bishops as he was and likewise the succeeding Orthodox Emperours did oftentimes Judge and Deprive Bishops by their own bare Authority That the Church in the time of that Emperour as well as in after Ages submitted to and acknowleg'd that Authority That those Ecclesiastical Canons which ordain that Bishops even for Political Crimes are to be depriv'd onely by Bishops did never oblige any Secular Government but as they were allow'd off and so made Laws by that Government I could willingly give you a Forecast of a few illustrious Examples of Bishops depriv'd by the Emperour 's sole Authority and the Church's owning and acknowledging that Authority but I find I have already exceeded what first I design'd on this Subject and have done like a great many others who designing onely a Lodge have been in danger of building 'em a Seat I shall now proceed to the second general Proposition which our Adversaries are desir'd to make out which is this 2. That it is agreeable to the Practice of the Ancient Christians for a Bishop unjustly depos'd whether by the Emperour or by Bishops to withdraw himself from the Communion of his Successor tho' his Successor were not a Heretick Let this be their Proposition If they prove not that they prove nothing And the contrary is plainly demonstrated in our Treatise There are Two things you tell me besides the Canons above spoken off which our Adversaries are wont to allege in Answer to that Treatise They First endeavour to weaken the Authority of it and Secondly they pretend that the Examples which it produces are all of Bishops Synodically depriv'd and therefore not to our Purpose In answer to this second Exception I shall undertake to demonstrat these Two things 1. That the Ancients had no greater regard to an unjust Synodical Deprivation than they had to an unjust Imperial Deprivation 2. That several of those Bishops that are mention'd in our Treatise were not Depriv'd Synodically or by Bishops but by the Emperour 's sole Power and Authority Neither did they resign their Bishopricks but were violently turn'd out As for the Objections of our Adversaries against the Authority of our Treatise tho' I know not of any Treatise of that age and nature that deserves to be more esteem'd yet to wave all impertinent Disputes and to shew that what we assert is not grounded on that onely Bottom we will fairly make 'em this Offer We will lay aside if they please the Authority of that Treatise and enter the Lists with new Weapons This is the Prâ—position we shall take upon us to demonstrat That its contrary to the general Practice of the ancient Bishops to recede upon their being unjustly Depriv'd whether by the Emperour onely or by a Synod from the Communion of an Orthodox Successor I say the general Practice That 's enough for us to demonstrat For what if our Adversaries can produce us one or two Exceptions How will that excuse Bishops who have
the Communion of an Orthodox Successor Pray look with both Eyes and see if you can possibly find in the Canons any thing truly pertinent to that particular Subject The Argument and Design of them is against private Conventicles without a lawfull Presbyter against a Presbyter or a Deacon's withdrawing from the Communion of his Bishop without a just Cause that a Bishop being condemn'd by the Bishops of the same Province it shall not be in the power of the Bishops of another Province to take the matter into their Cognisance against such Presbyters as shall separate from their Bishops on pretence of some Crimes they can charge 'em with before they be legally convicted against such Bishops as shall pretend to condemn their Metropolitan and to leave his Communion on pretence of his Vices before he is legally condemn'd and lastly against such Metropolitans as shall act in like manner with relation to their Patriarch I shall here translate you these Canons in the same order as they ly in the MS. In Doctor Beveridge's Synodicon you may read 'em all in the Original Can. Apost XXXI If a Presbyter shall in contempt of his Bishop gather a separate Congregation and erect another Altar his Bishop being not condemn'd by him for any Impiety or Injustice let him be depriv'd as Ambitious For he is a Tyrant In like manner others of the Clergy that shall adhere to him But let the Laity that shall make themselves of his Party be excommunicated And let these things be done after three Admonitions given by the Bishop What is this in God's Name to our Treatise How does this prove our Author's Meaning to be of a Synodical Deprivation What is this to the adhering to a Bishop not Synodically Depriv'd in opposition to another put into his Place Can. Concil Gang. VI. If any one in contempt of the Church shall gather a private Congregation and do those things which belong to the Church without a Presbyter appointed by the Bishop let him be Anathema What relation could this Canon have to the design of our Author It was made as Zonaras tells us against the Eustathians who despis'd the Congregations of the Church and set up Conventicles in their private Oratories and here they are forbid to celebrate the Service of the Church even in the private Chappels of their Houses without a Presbyter appointed 'em by the Bishop This our new Recusants would do well to observe Can. Concil Antioch V. If a Presbyter or Deacon shall in contempt of his Bishop separate himself from the Church and set up a Conventicle and erect an Altar and not submit to his Bishop after a second Admonition let him be depos'd and let him be uncapable for ever of being restor'd to his Honour and the Cure of Souls And if he goes on to raise Troubles and Seditions in the Church let him be punisht by the Civil Power as a Rioter How could this Canon be produc'd by the Author of our Treatise as pertinent to the Subject of it What 's this to a Bishop depriv'd by a Lay Power and the leaving his Communion who is put in his place which our Adversaries tell us is warranted by the Author of our Treatise The XVth Canon of the same Council If a Bishop being accus'd of any Crimes shall be condemn'd by all the Bishops of the Province and all shall unanimously agree in the Sentence against him he may not be judg'd again by others but the Sentence past unanimously by the Bishops of the Province shall be valid This Canon was made to prevent Appeals which a Bishop depriv'd by the Bishops of the same Province of which he was might make to some other Bishop or Bishops of another Province Pray tell me how it makes to the Business and Subject of our Treatise What Lynceus so very strong sighted as to see a Thing at that Distance Can. Concil Carthag XI If a Presbyter through Pride shall make a Schism against his Bishop let him be Anathema This is onely an Epitome of the XI Canon of the Council of Carthage What a rare relation it has to the particular Subject of our Treatise What a plain Demonstration it affords that the Author understands a Synodical Deprivation The XIII Canon of the Council call'd the First and Second The Devil scattering Heretical Seeds in the Church of Christ and seeing them cut off at the Root by the Sword of the Spirit has pitcht on another Method and endeavours to divide the Body of Christ by the Madness of Schismaticks The holy Council in order to prevent this Snare as well as the other has decreed That if any Presbyter or Deacon having condemn'd his Bishop for any Crimes shall dare to depart from his Communion and refuse to recite his Name in the Publick Prayers of the Church according to the usual Custom before he be Synodically tryed and perfectly condemn'd that Person shall be depos'd and depriv'd of all his Honour in the Priesthood For any one plac't in the order of a Presbyter if he takes upon him to prevent the Iudgment of the Metropolitan and to condemn and pass Sentence on his Father and Bishop he is not worthy of the Honour or Name of a Presbyter And they that adhere to such as have done so if they are of the Priesthood let them likewise be depriv'd of their Honour if Monks or of the Laity let 'em be Excommunicated till they leave the Schismatical Party and return to their respective Bishop I shall pass a Remark on this and the other two which follow together The XIV Canon of the same Council If a Bishop upon charging his Metropolitan with a Crime shall withdraw from his Communion and refuse to recite his Name in the publick Service of the Church according to Custom before he is Synodically tryed the holy Council decrees he be depos'd upon Proof that he made such a Schism For all Men ought to observe their proper Duties and the Presbyter must not despise his Bishop nor the Bishop his Metropolitan The XV. Canon of the same What has been decreed concerning Presbyters Bishops and Metropolitans the same is yet more reasonable with relation to Patriarchs If therefore any Presbyter or Bishop or Metropolitan shall dare to recede from the Communion of his Patriarch and does not according to Custom recite his Name in the Publick-Service of the Church but makes a Schism before his Patriarch has been Synodically try'd and perfectly condemn'd the holy Synod ordains That upon Proof made of such a Schism he be depos'd And these things are ordained and ratified concerning those who upon pretence of certain Crimes shall separate from their respective Bishops and make a Schism and break the Communion of the Church For they that separate themselves from the Communion of their Bishop for a Heresy condemn'd by the holy Fathers and Councils he publickly professing and preaching the Heresy shall be so far from being obnoxious to any Canonical Punishment on
That that same Council consisted of so many Bishops as to be call'd by Balsamon the learned Patriarch of Antioch 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a General Council And thus much Sir for our Canons The next thing I observe in your Letter is what you tell me concerning a very learned and elaborate Answer which you say is ready to be publisht and very much talkt on against the Oxford Antiquity As for that Sir It is no News to Me and no more than I ever expected You know there must somewhat be said That 's a Business of course And Schism is a Thing of so ugly and horrid an Aspect that it is not a Wonder if They that have rashly espous'd it think fit to give it a Paint tho all the World knows It is not its Natural Colour and it plainly appears to be Dawbing We have been now so Civil and Gentile to our Adversaries as to clean our selves of that Dirt which they themselves cast upon us before We are to enter upon the Struggle You may tell 'em Sir We are ready and prepar'd to close-in whensoever they please to come on We are not Concern'd at what you say That They are Great Men Men of War from their Youth For what avail the greatest Abilities what avails the strongest Confederacy when a Cause is not capable of Defence What avails a great deal of Strength when like Milo they are caught in an Oak It is not Sir to be admir'd that they that are engag'd in this Schism are so little mov'd and perswaded by the many Examples of those Great and Excellent Bishops which the Oxford Antiquity presents ' em You cannot but know of whom it was that St. Ierom uses those Words I know very well their Temper that 't is easier to conquer 'em than to perswade ' em 'T was you know the Luciferian Schismaticks of whom he speaks so And St. Augustine I remember makes Complaint of Emeritus the Champion of the Schismatical Donatists that tho in the Conference between 'em he was so far Confounded as not to have a Word to say yet he still continu'd in his Schism as if He himself had been Conquerour As it is a particular Complexion and a great and strong Temptation of either Resentment or Ambition or the tickling Satisfaction of being at the Head of a Party that must hurry a Man on to so great a Sin as a Schism so it must be a peculiar Grace that reduces one It is not your carrying a Light that will make a Man follow you not the shewing him the Road that will make him go right unless he has a Will to be directed It is therefore I say no matter at all of Wonder if those many Examples and Authorities of the Oxford Antiquity have not met with that agreeable success which a Man unconcern'd might very well have expected And when I tell ye We are ready to assert and defend that Doctrine which our Treatise advances against all the Opposition which our Adversaries threaten We are far from engaging to open a way for it to our Adversaries Hearts That I fear is scarce to be expected more especially of those whose Pens are now engag'd in the Defence of their Schism For they be Writing still make make it more hard to be convinc'd and suck like the Orator of old a fatal Poison out of their own Pens In short Sir I must tell ye The Place before which we ly has to Me no other Appearance you will pardon Sir the youthful Comparison but that of a Castle Enchanted and I shall not pretend to be so Romantick a Champion as to force it to a Surrender Tho we know all the Arms it can possibly make use off are very Weak and Insignificant tho the Walls that look towards us are extreamly thin and without any manner of Foundation Whatsoever our Weapons may be or our strength and dexterity in using 'em There is still a SPIRIT within that will keep it from being taken Yet this I shall dare to pretend to I shall dare engage to discover the Weakness of the Place and to Throw up such Works round about it as may hinder like a Circle the Sallies of the Obstinate Spirit and secure all those that are yet without from the Charms it may lay upon ' em That We may not run on and mispend our Time and Abuse the Patience of our Readers by Discourses not properly pertinent and close to the Matter depending When you meet with any of our Learned Adversaries the Emeriti of this Schism who you say are publishing an Answer to our Treatise and writing a Defence of their Revolt Be pleas'd Sir to 〈…〉 desire 'em to demonstrate if they can the Two general Propositions which follow 1. That the Civil Government has not any Authority in it self to deprive a Bishop of his Bishoprick who refuses to own it and to submit to it And here they are desired to consider that the Civil Power or the Temporal Governors are no less of God's own Institution than Bishops or the Governors of the Church that both are equally Iure Divino with this onely difference that the former are instituted by God for our Peace and Happiness here in this World the latter to conduct us to Happiness in that which is to come That the Secular Government is antecedent to the Spiritual That when Christ came into the world to establish a Church he came not to abolish any Law that was necessary for the support of the Secular Government not to set up a Church that was any ways opposite to it But that he himself submitted to the Secular Government which he found establisht and commanded his Followers to do so That after his Death the Apostles likewise did so and commanded likewise all their Followers and Successors to do the same to submit to the Temporal Power as the Ordinance of God It is plain that our Saviour by establishing a Church intended the establishment of such things onely as might well consist with the Safety and the Essentials of Government From hence it follows that none has receiv'd any Power or Commission from Christ to preach the Gospel or to preside over the Church in any Country but with this Supposition and on this Condition that he own and submit to the Temporal Government which God has ordained in that Country It is I say with this Supposition That he gives his Bishops and his Ministers a Commission to preside over the Church and to preach his Gospel in such or such a Country It is upon the same Condition that the Church appoints 'em to preside or preach in that Place and it is upon the same Condition that they are receiv'd allow'd off and protected by the State If therefore they fail of the Performance of that necessary Condition their Commission then ceases as to that particular Government which they cannot or will not submit to They become Deprivable by the State and the Church is to
constitute others who are willing to submit to the State and whom the State shall approve of as fit to be trusted by it in that Post. Thus for Matters of Heresy Christ has given no Authority to any to preach in his Name or to govern in his Church but on this Condition that they preach and maintain the true Faith If that Condition be not observ'd the Church is then to deprive ' em In the Case of Heresy it belongs to the Church to Deprive that being the proper Judge of that Question What is the true Faith In the Case of Rebellion or of Non-submission to the Government it belongs to the Government as being the proper Judge of what is necessary for its own Support I lay down this as a Principle on which both the Power of the Church of Depriving for Spiritual and likewise the Power of the State of Depriving for Political Crimes does depend Query What Security the Civil Government which is God's own Institution and antecedent to the Ecclesiastical can have if a Bishop that refuses to own it and to submit to its Authority may not be Depriv'd by it What Security can it have Especially considering that Men of that Character are generally Persons of very great Power and Authority and may easily go a great way in the Subversion of a Government by the Influence of their Eloquence and their great Reputation for Learning and Piety In such a Case is the Bishop to be Depriv'd by a Synod of Bishops Here a Second Query will follow What if all the Bishops that are under a Government should conspire against it And what if we suppose that there 's onely one Bishop within the Bounds of that Government a thing that has often happen'd What must be done in that Case Will our Adversaries grant that supposing a Bishop should conspire against the Government or Rebel the Government has Authority to imprison him or to banish him but not to Deprive him of his Bishoprick so as that another may be plac'd in his See If this be the Plea of our Adversaries I shall then desire to be satisfied in one Query more How does this consist with the Nature and End of Church Government How can He continue a Pastor that is utterly banish'd from his Flock and render'd utterly uncapable of doing the Duty of his Charge Shall the Neighbour Bishops be his Delegates and act by his Power and Authority But what if we recur to our former Supposition that all the Bishops of a Kingdom are Rebels When they are all banish'd by the State who then must govern the Church Who ordain and do other Duties that are proper to a Bishop Or supposing that there is but one Bishop when he is sent into perpetual Banishment how must his Office be supply'd When in the first Planting of the Christian Religion in the several Parts of the World there was onely one Bishop in a Country as at first in many Countries there was onely one if that one had been banish'd for Rebellion pray what should the Christians there planted have done Should they have liv'd without any Bishop during all his Life that was banish'd or ought they not rather to have got a new one to govern 'em to supply the Church with inferiour Clergy and the like Here Sir I shall put you in mind of those words of the great St. Chrysostom which are urg'd in the Preface to the Oxford Antiquity when he was unjustly banish'd he charg'd his People That as they hop'd for Salvation they should be obedient to that Bishop who should succeed him as to himself For the Church says he cannot be without a Bishop And yet it is certain that that great Man did never resign his Bishoprick but continued to act as a Bishop of the Catholick Church during all the time of his Banishment that is as long as he liv'd I shall onely add that if the Banishment of a Bishop be not design'd to be perpetual as that of St. Chrysostom was but onely for a Time then there may not be any Necessity that another should be plac'd in his See And this was the Reason why when St. Athanasius the Patriarch of Alexandria was banish'd by the Emperour Constantine there was no new Patriarch created That He was banish'd onely for a Time and that the Emperour Constantine intended to recall him and to restore him to his Bishoprick is expresly attested by the Younger Emperour Constantine in his Letter to the Church of Alexandria by which he restores him to his See Who adds that he himself by restoring him did onely fulfil his Father's Will who he says would have done it himself if he had not been prevented by Death And Pope Iulius in his Synodical Epistle to the Synod of Antioch concludes That the Emperour Constantine did not fully and perfectly condemn Athanasius because there was no one put into his Place during the time of his Banishment If says he He had fully condemn'd him his See would have been dispos'd of to another The Solution Sir of these Queries which I have propos'd will prove if I am not mistaken a Work of no great Ease I should gladly see the Knot fairly untied without any Cutting and Violence We will see on the contrary if you please how easily those Knots may be loos'd which our Adversaries are wont to present us as the greatest effects of their Skill Ob. 1. How does it consist with the Safety of the Church and of Religion if the Secular Governour has Authority to turn out a Bishop Then all Bishops may depend on his Sentence and the Church and Religion be precarious An Orthodox Bishop may be depos'd and a Heretick placed in his See Ans. It cannot be avoided but that the Church and Religion must be always in some measure Precarious and depend upon the Civil Magistrat If the Governour be an Enemy to Religion there is no avoiding Oppression wheresoever we lodge the true Power of Depriving a Bishop Now to answer directly the Objection If the Civil Governour should turn out our Orthodox Bishops and put in Hereticks in their Places or put in none at all in their places then the Church is obliged to adhere to the old Ones turn'd out or if there be a necessity to procure new Ones that are Orthodox Thus if the Civil Magistrat should forbid the Christian Religion to be preach'd in his Country he is not to be obey'd because it is the Will of our Saviour that his Gospel should be preach'd to all Nations as far as the Preaching of it does consist with those Rules that are truly essential to Government And when Decius the Emperour aim'd to root out the Christian Religion in the City of Rome by destroying the Bishop Fabianus and forbiding that any new Bishop should be Created in his Place there was no Obligation on the Christians of that Church to obey his Will or Decree since they did not pretend to choose such a Person
Bishops may be pleaded to excuse both Lucifer who himself suffer'd Banishment and also some other Bishops of that Age who were so far provok'd as to deny that the Emperor had any Authority at all over Bishops For as Solomon says Oppression maketh a Wise man mad Here Sir it comes into my mind what you mention in your Letter concerning St. Cyprian That there 's nothing more usual with the Advocates for the New Separation than to plead upon all Occasions the Authority of that excellent Father 'T is Sir a merry Question that which you are pleas'd to ask me Whether ever He wrote a Treatise by way of Prophecy for the Cause of our Adversaries One would think so you say by the Confidence and Triumph of those that are wont to quote him I shall answer you Sir in short but with a great deal of Seriousness that there is not a Word in St. Cyprian that makes a Whit for their Cause I will give you according to your Desire a particular account of the meaning of all those Passages which you say are usually alleg'd and of the Occasion why they were written You will then see that even the greatest and learnedest men for such you tell me some of the Quoters of St. Cyprian are are in some respects no better than the Many that when they are drowning and sinking they will catch at Straws no less than other People The Words which you say are commonly quoted by our Adversaries out of St. Cyprian are 1. That a Bishop cannot be judg'd by another but that Christ alone who set him over the Church has power to judge of his Actions These Words are in St. Cyprian's Preface to the Synod of Carthage The Occasion of them was this There was a Controversy between St. Cyprian and Pope Stephanus of Rome concerning the Rebaptizing of such as had been Baptiz'd by Hereticks or Schismaticks St. Cyprian and the Synod were for it But they would not they say take upon 'em to Anathematize those Bishops that did not agree with 'em in that Matter but would leave it to them to act according to their Judgments and would let the Matter alone to be fully determin'd by Christ at the Day of Judgment he being the proper Judge of the Actions of Bishops in a Thing of that Nature 2. That a Bishop ought not to be prescrib'd to in the ordering of the Affairs of his Church but that he is to govern according to his own Judgment and to give an account of his Actions to God These Words are spoken on the same occasion and in the same sense in a Letter to Pope Stephanus wherein he gives him an account of what had been Decreed by the Synod of Carthage They are spoken likewise upon another but a like Occasion in his Epistle to Magnus who had sent to know hisJudgment concerning such Persons as being converted to the Faith in the time of Sickness were Baptiz'd by Sprinkling onely Whether they ought to be lookt upon as perfect Christians He resolves him in the Affirmative but with a great deal of Modesty And he leaves it to other Bishops to act according to their Judgments He would not judge another that should not agree with him in it And likewise in his Epistle to Antonianus where he says That some of the Bishops of Africa before his Time thought it unlawful to re-admit into the Church a Person excommunicated for Adultery but they did not however pretend to condemn other Bishops that were of a different Opinion and who practis'd accordingly As also in an Epistle to Cornelius Bishop of Rome wherein he complains that some of his Factious Presbyters who had been condemn'd by the Bishops of his Province were fled to Rome to have their Cause heard by Cornelius when as he says it was contrary to the Constitutions of the Church and likewise to reason and equity that a Cause should be try'd in any other Province but that where the Crime was committed and that the Bishops of that Province are to give an account of their Actions to God and not to other Bishops 3. That a Bishop has Deum solum judicem and Deo soli debet se judici These are not the Words of St. Cyprian but of the Clergy of Rome in their Answer to him concerning the Receiving of the Lapsi into the Church In which they applaud his Modesty in writing to them for their Judgments when he was not at all oblig'd but had power as a Bishop to act in a thing of that nature according to his own judgment and was bound to give an account of his Actions in that Affair to God alone not to any other Church 4. That all Acts of the Church ought to proceed from Bishops These Words are gather'd out of the 33. Epistle to the Lapsi Wherein he complains of the boldness of some factious Presbyters of his who had taken upon 'em in the time of his Retirement to admit the Lapsi to Communion by their own Authority without consulting him and in writing to him had pretended to write in the name of the Church He briskly asserts the Authority of Bishops he tells 'em that the Church consists in the Bishop the Clergy and the People and that in the Receiving of the Lapsi into the Church it was necessary there should be the concurrence of the Bishop who had the power committed to him of Binding and Loosing 5. That it is an extream Insolence to pretend to pass judgment on a Bishop This he says with relation to private Persons who pretend so to judge their Bishop as to leave his Communion if they think him unworthy to govern in the Church He writes it to Pupianus a Confessor who upon the account of some very ill things which St. Cyprian's Adversaries had maliciously accus'd him off as committed before he was a Bishop had withdrawn himself from his Communion 6. That to make ones self the Judge of a Bishop is to pretend to judge God himself What he has to this purpose is in the foresaid Epistle to Pupianus and upon the foresaid occasion He tells him that God who according to the Scripture extends his Providence even to Sparrows does in a particular manner concern himself in the Election of a Bishop and therefore since himself was duly Elected Pupianus took upon him to oppose the Iudgment of God in pretending to judge him unworthy Lastly That a Bishop that invades another's See is no Bishop Et cum post primum secundus esse non possit quisquis post unum qui solus esse debeat factus est non jam secundus ille sed nullus est What is this to our Case He speaks those words concerning Novatianus who had violently invaded the See of Pope Cornelius a good and innocent Man one that had never been Depriv'd for any Fault and who never refus'd to acknowledge the Emperour's Authority Our new Bishops are not secundi but
A LETTER FROM Mr. HUMPHRY HODY TO A FRIEND Concerning a Collection of Canons 〈◊〉 said be Deceitfully omitted in his Edition of the Oxford Treatise against SCHISM In which is likewise Contained Offer of Certain Propositions to be prov'd by the Advocates for the New Separation WITH A Vindication of the Authority of the Civil Power in Depriving such BISHOPS as refuse to submit to it Nemo vos Fratres errare à Domini viis faciat Nemo vos Christianos ab Evangelio Christi rapiat Nemo Filios Ecclesiae de Ecclesiâ tollat Pereant sibi soli qui perire voluerunt Extra Ecclesiam soli remaneant qui de Ecclesiâ recesserunt S. Cypr. OXFORD Printed by I. Lichfield for Ant. Pisly Bookseller 1692. Imprimatur Dec. 12 1691. JONATH ED VICE-CAN A LETTER FROM Mr. HUMPHRY HODY TO A FRIEND Concerning a Collection of Canons said to be deceitfully Omitted by him in his Edition of the Oxford Treatise against SCHISM SIR A Day or Two ago upon my Return out of the Country I receiv'd your Letter which had lain some time expecting me In which you are pleas'd to advise me concerning a Report industriously spread abroad by the Abettors of our present Schism That the Treatise against it which I lately Translated out of the Baroccian MS. is Partially and Deceitfully publish't That there are some Canons belonging to it omitted which would if publisht have unravel'd the Whole I had heard of such a Report before I receiv'd your Letter but I rather admir'd at the Heat and Iudgment of those that first rais'd it then thought it worthy to be taken notice off by me and refuted I could hardly believe that they that were the Authors of it were really in earnest when first the Noise was made and if they were in earnest I knew that their Judgments were determin'd by so strong a Biuss of Resentment and Zeal for a Cause that all men must easily perceive it I could not perswade my self that any Person of common Ingenuity and Candour could believe me guilty of so dull a Piece of Knavery a Knavery so easily discoverable and that by my own Direction It was really very entertaining to observe to what little Arts and Shiftings our Adversaries were reduc'd I plainly saw by their Passion and their holding up dirty Hands that I had given 'em a Fall And I could not wonder that so small a Person as your Friend should be so stigmatiz'd when even Cecilianus the great Arch-Bishop of Carthage was by the Schismatical Donatists call'd downright Knave in a Letter to the Emperour Constantine and that too tho He himself had Iudicially acquitted him and declar'd him a worthy Arch-Bishop 'T is this is the Humour and indeed the Vnhappiness of Mankind If in your Opinions or Actions you chance to run counter to a Party there is no expecting of Quarter you are fallen in among Rapparees and if it lies in their power God have mercy upon you you will certainly fall by one Weapon or other you must either be a Fool or a Knave Where the Bluntness of the former will not pierce there the Sharpness of the latter must be try'd They will stab one at the Heart if they cannot knock one on the Head This they will be sure to endeavour to do but the best of it is it does often happen that there 's no one 〈…〉 I was confident it would prove so with me I knew it was impossible that the Dirt wherewith I was so freely and bountifully bespatter'd should stick long upon me that a little Time would of course dry it off and if not so 't would however come out by the least Rubbing The Design of those that first blew abroad that strange and improbable Rumour was so obvious to all that would give themselves leave to Think that I could not imagine any Persons of sound Understanding could possibly give Ear to it The Fort I had happily rais'd was very strong and impregnable well-man'd with stout and unconquerable Veterans and who could not see through so common and usual a Stratagem as that of a False Report What else could be done to keep up the sinking Spirits of the Adverse Party It was necessary they should be perswaded that tho there was an Appearance of many Brave Men upon the Walls yet there lay in the Town conceal'd a much stronger Party Well-wishers to Them that would shew Themselves shortly discover the Weakness of the rest and deliver up the Place These Considerations Sir made me altogether secure and regardless of that idle and unlikely Tale But you blame me you say I must not any longer despise it It is still as you tell me continu'd and by many believ'd And the Author of a Pamphlet entitl'd An Apology for the New Separation c. has made a publick Complaint of my Disingenuity in this matter He says he is assur'd by his Friends in Oxford that that Collection of Canons which follows our Tract in the MS. is a part of the Tract and that it shews plainly that the Author 〈◊〉 the Tract when he contends That A Bishop unjustly depos'd ought not to make a Division in the Church provided his Successor be Orthodox is to be understood of onely a Synodical Deprivation By which he means that the Author of the Treatise supposes that if a Bishop unjustly depriv'd be depriv'd by a Secular Power and not by a Synod of Bishops then he is not oblig'd not to make a Separation Upon this account I see 't is high time to rowse up my self a little since the Philistins are so much upon me I shall now Sir obey your Commands in laying before you those Canons which our Adversaries so much boast off and the Reasons why I did not publish 'em together with the Treatise That you your self may judge what a Nothing that is that has made such a Bounce that 't is onely meer Powder that can hurt no one else but the Person that Fires In the first place Sir I must assure you That when I transcrib'd our Treatise out of the Baroccian MS. I did it as an Historian or a Philologer or whatsoever else you will call it not imagining then I should ever send it abroad upon such an Occasion If therefore the aforesaid Canons do truly belong to the Treatise it is to be imputed to the error and mistake of my Iudgment and not to an ill Design that they are omitted I perus'd 'em I remember at that time and they seem'd to me as still they do not at all to belong to the Treatise They are written I grant in the same hand and immediatly follow the Treatise but for God-sake what then Are they therefore a part of the foregoing Treatise What a wretched Judgment must that needs be that can draw so strange a Conclusion Here I cannot but return you that Story which once I remember you told me of that poor Country Person who would needs have the Book-binder's Leaf to be a part